


How I Met My Marco

by holyfreckles



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Fluff, Friends to Lovers, High School, M/M, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Rating will change, lots of fluff
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-04-20
Updated: 2014-04-20
Packaged: 2018-01-20 03:25:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,826
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1494778
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/holyfreckles/pseuds/holyfreckles
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>My name is Jean Kirschtein, and I have a story to tell. A story with it's ups and downs. It's important to me, and I want to remember it for as long as I live, so I'm going to write it all down.</p>
<p>I remember every detail; I still own a load of the things that I owned back then.</p>
<p>I'm going to recall everything, and when I do...I'm going to fall in love with Marco Bodt all over again, love him more than I already do.</p>
            </blockquote>





	How I Met My Marco

**Author's Note:**

> thanks to legendaerie for the title because i could not think of anything else god bless

First off; I was an idiot.  
  
An absolute moron. But I was young - that’s not much of an excuse, of course, but I’ve matured now. However...it almost lost me a friend, one whom I pulled back as firmly as I could. In fact, I pulled him so close that our lips ended up touching and our fingers intertwined.   
  
I held him close and refused to let him go, even when things turned rocky.  
  
It’s a very important story to me, one I wish to keep down for as long as I can. I look back now and laugh, because let’s face it, I was a fucking imbecile, but...it was a very stressful time. I hurt people around me because I was too scared about the truth, and I ended up drifting away from those I loved.  
  
Where to start..? It would probably be best to start at the very beginning. The day I met him, which, in all honesty, may have seemed silly to him, but it was very important to me, in a way.  
  
Yeah, this means I’m recounting my goddamn high-school years. As if they weren’t the worst days of my life as it was...but it’s best for me to go back there. It’s where it all began, after all. Where complications began and where everything went to shit.   
  
I mean, it picked up later on, but only when I realised that I didn’t want to lose the ones I adored, the people I doted on. The only people who ever realised I was more than I made out to be. Yeah, I was a douche, but they looked past that and ignored my tendencies to snap, or to make rude comments, and they embraced my brutal honesty and bluntness. I was happy.  
  
Those days were pretty fucking rough, and, apparently, I make the biggest frown whenever I think about it, so this could be fun.  
  
Let’s start at the beginning, then. The day I met the man I fell in love with.  
  
\--  
  
High school for me sucked, at first. I was fifteen years old, had no motivation, and generally didn’t give a shit about...anything.  
  
Usually, I sat with Connie and Sasha at lunch. They were my only friends at the time, and, in all fairness, they were pretty fun to be around. I liked them, and they seemed to like me well enough - it was nice, to be honest. I was more of a loner, stuck to myself when they weren’t around.  
  
He had his own little circle of friends - I knew him as that nerdy freckled kid who happened to be in some of my classes. I always picked at his flaws when I looked at him. I decided that he was a prick before I even talked to him; probably because of the people he chose to hang out with. He was fairly loud and laughed a lot, and he was very touchy-feely with his friends - only the bowlcut kid cared, though. The others were fine with it.  
  
This day, however, was different. Connie and Sasha were off sick - they’d both got the flu, and were at home. Actually...a load of kids in my grade were off sick. We had enough off sick that we ended up doing things that wouldn’t count to our grade so that the kids who weren’t ill didn’t have to go through the same lessons repeatedly.  
  
So, at lunch, I was alone. By coincidence - so was he. And he was a social butterfly.  
  
Of all the people he could’ve approached, he approached me. He sat down and smiled, and I caught the glint of braces briefly before he closed his mouth again, and cleared his throat. I couldn’t exactly judge, though - I was in a similar situation. It was more common than I thought.  
  
“Uh, hi,” he said slowly, “is it okay for me to sit here?”  
  
Honestly, he sounded like he was treading carefully - he also sounded like he was used to being careful. I gave a small shrug and poked at my food, before I turned my gaze to him, studying him as much as I could without him catching me.   
  
His eyes were a soft brown, and his dark brunet hair was parted in the middle. Honestly? He was kind-of adorable, but I didn’t really care about that.  
  
“What’s your name?” He asked, flashing me another smile. Jeez, this kid really didn’t learn to take a hint.  
  
“Jean,” I ended up replying after deciding that it would be fine to tell the dude my name. “You?”  
  
“Marco.”   
  
He gave another smile to me, and absently shifted his weight. Marco’s soft gaze flicked away for a moment, before he looked to me again.  
  
“You’re usually with Sasha and Connie, right?” He questioned. I rolled my eyes and rested my elbow on the table, kicking my legs absently.  
  
“Yeah,” I gave a small shrug to him, “both of ‘em are off, though. So..”  
  
Marco gave a more gentle smile and nodded a little, looking down to his tray of food before he looked back up to me.  
  
“I thought something like that was up.” He laughed softly - it was a sweet laugh, I found myself liking it instantly. It was different to the loud barks of laughter he had when he was with his friends, “seems like a load of people have got the flu, huh?”  
  
I snorted softly and looked down.  
  
“Yeah. Your friends, too?” I squinted at him and he nodded quietly, looking back down and giving small shrug.  
  
“None of my friends have good immune systems like me. As soon as the flu started going around, they were prepared for the worst..” Marco said, before he laughed, “that sounded kind-of dramatic, when I think about it like that.”  
  
I managed a quiet chuckle and smiled, picking at my food. Marco seemed to take the hint that I didn’t want to speak too much to a stranger, and I supposed that was nice of him. Not everyday someone takes the hint, but then, his friends were pretty odd, so maybe he was used to people like me. Who knows?  
  
We didn’t speak to each-other again for the rest of lunch. He ate his food and I ate mine. He left before me, and that was fine with me. I didn’t really care at that moment in time; it had just been a one-time thing, sitting with me. Nothing to think about too much.  
  
I spent the rest of the day on my own. Classes were just as boring as usual, especially with most of each class away, so there was no real point in focusing, in my opinion.  
  
Things only changed on my way back home. I stopped by the convenience store to grab a drink, and saw Marco there. I didn’t pay much attention at first - grabbing a bottle of Mountain Dew and heading to pay. He’d already paid by then and was heading out, and I doubted that he’d seen me.   
  
I thanked the woman behind the counter(she was always nice to me - I swear, sometimes she gave me too much change, but I never counted), and left, only to find Marco waiting there. He spotted me and smiled brightly.  
  
“I thought it was you, Jean.” He chuckled softly. My gaze flicked to the 2 liter bottle of cola in his arms, and I raised an eyebrow.  
  
“Man...if you drop that, it’s gonna explode.” I said slowly. He gave a small shrug and laughed - the same soothing, gentle laugh as before. I definitely liked that laugh - I couldn’t really deny it. “I’m fuckin’ serious, Marco.”  
  
“I know, I know. It’s a risk I’m willing to take.” Marco grinned, and I rolled my eyes. “Anyway,” he changed the topic rather suddenly, “what direction are you going in?”  
  
I pointed the general direction of my home, and his grin only got wider. He looked like a child on Christmas.  
  
“Oh, cool. I’m going that way too.” He absently shifted the bottle in his arms, blinking slowly, “mind if I walk with you?” He asked, back to the somewhat cautious tone. I decided that he definitely knew how to handle people like me, as well. Excellent. Maybe I could make a friend out of him after all.  
  
I shrugged at him - he could do whatever he wanted - and began to walk, not particularly giving a shit if he followed or not. Like a puppy, however, he trotted after me, though he seemed to keep his distance.  
  
Five minutes of silence was all I could take.  
  
“Okay, begin talkin’.” I groaned, gesturing for him to catch up and walk alongside me. He seemed to get it, and jogged to catch up(goddamn the cola in his arms worried me right now), before he tilted his head, giving me the most questioning look those wide brown eyes could manage. “Why’re you befriending me and shit?”  
  
Marco’s gaze flicked upwards for a brief few seconds, before he laughed again - what was it with him and laughing? I didn’t understand what was so funny, it genuinely confused me.  
  
“You seemed nice,” he admitted. I raised an eyebrow, but he continued before I could ask him anything. “Connie and Sasha talk about you a lot when they stay over mine, and they asked if I wanted to befriend you. So I took the chance without those two lingering around. It was a little easier without my own friends around as well, I must admit.” He told me.  
  
“Who’re your friends? Your current friends, at least?” I asked, genuinely curious. Marco smiled softly and lowered his gaze to the ground.  
  
“Marlo, Hitch, Boris, Mina and Thomas.” He replied, “they’re nice enough, really. Marlo, Hitch and Boris are a little rough around the edges, but Mina and Thomas are real softies.”   
  
He had a smile on his face as he spoke about his friends, his expression softened completely. I found myself smiling - just a little, because he genuinely cared for them, and it was nice to see.   
  
Our peaceful moment was interrupted when Marco, ever-so-gracefully, dropped the cola he was carrying. I groaned softly as it exploded _everywhere_. He and I had both jumped back just in time to not get blasted with the sugary liquid, but the poor sidewalk was covered in the stuff.  
  
“I can’t fucking believe you.” I hissed, but, upon getting no response, I looked to Marco to see his reaction.  
  
I had never seen such a dramatic reaction to someone losing their cola. This kid, I shit you not, dropped to his knees and lowered his gaze, before he put a hand over his heart.  
  
“I will avenge you, Coca-Cola.” He whispered, and I lost it. I couldn’t stop myself from bursting into a fit of laughter at how dramatically he was reacting to losing a bottle of soda, because, let’s face it, it’s not exactly something you’d cry over losing, but here was the dorkiest guy I’d ever known, on the verge of tears.  
  
Or...way past the verge of tears. There were actual tears rolling down his cheeks as he moved two fingers to the side of his head, and saluted the mess. The laughter that erupted from me was strange, and I moved back to lean against the wall, using one hand to wipe the tears away from my eyes. I hadn’t been able to laugh like that for a while.  
  
“Oh my god, man.” I wheezed out, once I was done laughing. He tilted his head to look at me and blinked, looking absolutely crestfallen.  
  
“A warrior has fallen...why are you laughing about this?” Marco asked slowly, staying on his knees as he stared at me. I shrugged helplessly, watching as he stood up and walked over to me, before he took my free hand and adjusted my fingers, before forcing me to salute. What a little shit. I couldn’t stop myself from laughing at what he did, finding myself _highly_ amused at what he was doing.  
  
“Marco, it’s just soda.” I reasoned. He gave me a sharp glare and shook his head.  
  
“It is not just soda, _Jean_. It may have had family...it may have had kids! And you’re laughing...are you really going to disrespect it’s corpse like that?” He stuck his bottom lip out in a pout, and I rolled my eyes. I lightly pushed him aside and walked over to the mess, giving a little salute.  
  
“You will be missed, Captain Coca-Cola,” I drawled, “you were a true hero. The only one who could’ve survived in Marco’s iron grasp. Rest in Peace, man. Private Mountain Dew will avenge you.”  
  
With that, I slowly opened my bottle of Mountain Dew, smirking as I did so. I turned to face Marco, who gave me a curious look, his gaze flicking to the drink I had in my hand to my face.  
  
“What are you doing...?” He questioned as he backed away from me slowly. I shrugged and walked closer, until he was backed up against the wall and I was close enough to slowly pour the drink over his head. As I did so, Marco’s eyes widened and his mouth opened, as if silently asking me ‘why?’  
  
“The soldier has been avenged.” I whispered as solemnly as I could, emptying the last of the Mountain Dew onto his head before moving away and smiling - hopefully, it was an innocent smile.  
  
Marco had a mixture of shock and confusion on his face, as if he was trying to process what had just happened. He blinked slowly and looked down, before he looked back to me.  
  
“Did you just?”   
  
“Yep.”  
  
“...Why?”  
  
“Captain Coca-Cola has been avenged.”  
  
At my reply, he closed his mouth and swallowed, patting the top of his head and grimacing, before he began to walk.  
  
“I’m gonna get sticky if I don’t shower soon.” He hissed at me as I caught up to him. I barked out a laugh and shook my head.  
  
“Does this mean we’re friends now?” I piped up, trying to keep my tone light and airy. I didn’t want a potential friend to hate me instantly, after all. He shrugged and gave a nod, rubbing the back of his neck and wrinkling his nose.  
  
“Oh man. You’re actually a douche.” Marco said as he shot me a glare. I smiled in return, and walked with a slight skip in my step.  
  
“I’ve been told. You wanted to avenge the thing you murdered, though.” I pointed out.  
  
Marco hissed softly, and it sounded like he probably cursed, but I couldn’t stick around to find out. Looked like we parted ways here.  
  
“See you around, Marco.” I found myself smiling as I waved, and he blinked slowly, giving a wave, before he opened his mouth to speak. I paused in my place, waiting for him to say something.  
  
“Wanna exchange numbers?” He smiled gently, seeming to be less salty over the fact that I poured Mountain Dew over his head. I nodded and dug around in my pockets until I found my phone, pulling it out and unlocking it, while he did the same with his.  
  
Once we’d exchanged numbers and farewells, we headed in different directions(he went to the left in the fork in the road, I went to the right), and that was that. I had to walk alone for the rest of the way, but in all fairness, it wasn’t that far.  
  
I finally reached my house(oh thank god, my room is only a few more minutes away), opened the door and entered(please nobody be home).  
  
“I’m home!” I called, listening intently to see if anyone else was home(please, please, please).  
  
“Welcome home, mon petit choux!” My mother called from the kitchen, “how was your day?”  
  
“Uneventful. Made a new friend, everyone was off sick.” I called back, peeking into the living-room, “Dad not home?” I frowned a little at that - he usually was home, but then again, maybe he got a new job.  
  
She peeked her head from the kitchen and gave a small smile.  
  
“No, new job.” She replied. Bingo, I knew it. “Need any help with your homework?” She arched an eyebrow at me, and I shook my head. “Okay. Dinner won’t be until 6pm, so if you want something to eat before then, now is the time.”  
  
“I’m fine, Maman.” I promised, “I don’t have much homework, and it’s easy anyway. And I’m not hungry, either.” I rolled my eyes, “I’m gonna go to my room, okay?”  
  
Maman gave a nod and headed back into the kitchen, while I moved as quickly as I could up the stairs and to my room, before she decided she wanted help in the kitchen. Once I was safe(success!), I sighed in relief and flopped on my bed, pulling out my phone to check it.  
  
 **You have (1) new message!**  
  
 **From: Marco**  
 **Msg:** hey jean! its marco, duh. just makin sure i have the right number!!  
  
 **To: Marco**  
 **Msg:** You got it, man. I’m proud of you. Have you showered yet or are you still sticky?  
  
 **From: Marco**  
 **Msg:** ur worse than my mom. ill go shower now, ur highness.  
  
 **To: Marco**  
 **Msg:** Whatever. You can text me when you’re clean, nerd.  
  
I tossed my phone aside and sighed as I kicked off my shoes, curling my legs up a little and frowning to myself. Marco seemed nice enough, and he didn’t get super mad over me pouring Mountain Dew over his head. In fact, it seemed like I’d gained a friend. Yeah...it was kind of nice, in all honesty - gaining a new friend. It was strange, at the same time, since I’d been pretty pissy to him, but he didn’t care in the slightest.  
  
“Mon petit choux, dinner!”  
  
Maman’s voice woke me up, which actually alerted me to the fact that I’d fallen asleep. I groaned softly and rolled off my bed, barely managing to get my footing before I headed out of my room, jogging down the stairs and heading through the living room to the kitchen. I took my plate of food before I walked back to the living room, sitting down on the couch and beginning to eat quietly.  
  
My father was home, and he sat in his usual arm-chair, having already eaten half of his food already. How long had I been asleep? I didn’t give a shit, really.  
  
“How was school?” He asked. I shrugged in reply, which caused him to sigh softly. “Got a girlfriend?”   
  
That was always his thing. Try to lull me into a false sense of security, then the relationship questions started.  
  
“No, père. I’m fifteen, I have plenty of time.” I replied once I’d swallowed my mouthful of food. Maman came in at that moment and sat on the couch, shooting a look to Père.  
  
“He’s right, you know,” she said, “he’s still young, he can find love whenever he wants.”  
  
Père sighed and shook his head.  
  
“I’m just curious.” He shot back, and that was that. We didn’t converse once that little talk was over, and it bugged me a little. Not to mention that my sexuality had been spoken about many times; I was questioning, and that was all there was to it. They’d both been pretty chill, but then Père constantly brought up the girlfriend questions. Honestly? It was tiring.  
  
Once I’d eaten my food, I headed to the kitchen, washed my dish, and headed back upstairs. It was our usual thing, no-one questioned it. My parents were pretty lax, and for that I was rather grateful.  
  
Back to the safety of my room, I flopped onto my bed and groaned, grabbing my phone.  
  
 **You have (5) new messages!**

I snorted at the number - did Marco miss me?  
  
 **From: Marco**  
 **Msg:** took me ages 2 get the mt dew out of my hair ur such a jerk!!  
  
 **From: Marco**  
 **Msg:** and i had 2 eat so sry for bein so late nd stuff.  
  
 **From: Marco**  
 **Msg:** dont give me the silent treatment u rotten tater tot  
  
 **From: Marco**  
 **Msg:** my kokoro is brokoro.  
  
 **From: Marco**  
 **Msg:** we have hw 2nite jsyk  
  
 **To: Marco**  
 **Msg:** Holy fuck dude, did you call me a rotten tater tot?  
  
 **From: Marco**  
 **Msg:** now u pay attention 2 me. u truly are a rotten tater tot. ive done my hw have u?  
  
 **To: Marco**  
 **Msg:** No, and I’m going to do it now. If you’re really that desperate to talk to me, call me.  
  
 **Incoming Call from Marco**  
  
I didn’t actually expect him to call me, so that was quite the surprise. I did smile, despite myself, and pressed answer, before I walked over to my desk, putting him on loudspeaker.  
  
“Hello, rotten tater tot.” He chimed, his voice sounding as cheerful as he had sounded before. Did this guy ever have bad moods during the day? Or was he set on one mood for the day, with no mood-swings? That was...kind of interesting, really.  
  
“Hello, nerd,” I greeted, “okay, so, if we’re gonna be friends, we’re gonna have to learn more things about each-other.”  
  
He stayed silent, before he burst into laughter. I raised an eyebrow and focused on my homework while he laughed it out. Eventually, though, he settled.  
  
“Jean,” he said, “is that seriously your approach to this?”   
  
“Ye.” I hummed softly, chewing the end of my pen, “it is. Quick, your turn first, no take-backsies or whatever.”  
  
Marco gave an audible groan, and I heard him moving around, grunting as he did so, before the noises stopped.  
  
“Okay, so. My full name is Marco Bodt, I’m sixteen, but last year I was absent way too much so I had to stay back a year, I’m the oldest out of six, me included. However, only one of my siblings live with me, and he’s four years old, so we don’t exactly talk. Uh...I live with my dad, but I go to my mom’s on the weekend.” He told me. I smiled a little as he spoke, continuing to chew on my pen. “Your turn.” He added. What a little shit.  
  
I groaned loudly.  
  
“But homework.” I whined softly. He snorted, and stayed silent. Oh god. He was one of those types, wasn’t he? He was. He’d stay silent until I spoke. Well...that wasn’t good. I groaned again. “The name’s Jean Kirschtein, I’m fifteen, an only child, live with both parents, and I’m part German, part French. I’m fluent in French due to both parents speaking it fairly often.”  
  
“Wow.” Marco breathed. I didn’t know what there was to be ‘wow’ed about, but I didn’t care, because I had some very hard homework in front of me. “You sound more interesting than me. Aha.”  
  
“You’re not boring, you’re pretty cool. And compared to Connie and Sasha, you’re pretty chill, yeah?”   
  
“Thanks, I think?”   
  
“‘S the closest you’re gonna get to a compliment from me.”  
  
Marco was quiet for a few moments, before he laughed loudly, causing me to flinch away from my phone. I rolled my eyes as he decided to laugh like an idiot, though I was a little amused at how easily he laughed. It didn’t seem forced, either. It seemed genuine. I liked that.  
  
His laughter dissolved into a few quiet giggles, and I smiled despite myself. He was really a cheerful guy, I noticed...and his cheerfulness was contagious - I found myself in a much lighter mood as I worked on homework.  
  
While I did my homework, he talked. He told me about his friends, about his family, and about...everything. Marco was a very talkative person, and I found myself loving his voice. It was gentle and soothing - the type that a loving parent would have.  
  
Unfortunately, the time came for us to hang up on each-other, due to sleeping and shit. That bugged me a lot, but I was glad I’d had the chance to speak to the dude. He was alright, and I honestly hoped it wasn’t a one-time thing.  
  
“Goodnight, Jean!” Marco chimed.  
  
“G’night, Marco. Uh..” I rubbed the back of my neck as I picked up the phone with my other hand, “it was nice talking to you.”  
  
“Yeah, you too.” He chuckled, “do you, uh..” He paused, clearing his throat, “you wanna walk to school together tomorrow? We could talk more then?”   
  
The offer was great. I had to force myself not to sound over-enthusiastic.  
  
“Yeah, sure, man.” I said. Hell fucking yeah. Great going fifteen-year-old Jean Kirschtein, you win an award for stupidest motherfucker alive.  
  
With more exchanges of goodbyes, he hung up on me, and I found myself grinning like an idiot. I’d made a new friend and it was great - I never realised that it would be so nice to befriend people like that...or maybe it was just Marco? Either way, it was nice, and I continued to think about it as I changed to pajamas and went to bed, turning the light off.  
  
...And pulling out my phone to browse online. Yeah, there was no way I was sleeping so soon.  
  
\--  
  
Our friendship bloomed fairly quickly, after that. We ended up walking to school together each day, and for the entire week it was just us two, due to Connie, Sasha and his friends all being away due to being ill. It was nice not to be alone when my only two friends were away - it was new.  
  
I found that we had similar interests, despite being very different in personality, and I liked that. I wondered if Marco was even real, or if I’d dreamt him up - it was always a possibility.  
  
But then I reminded myself that I could never dream up someone like this, he was way beyond what I’d ever imagine one of my friends to be like.  
  
Honestly? Marco was perfect, in my eyes. He could do no wrong, and I looked up to him almost instantly. We clicked so well, despite me being hesitant at first. Really...he became my best friend faster than ever, and it was the first time someone had managed to get close to me - all in the span of a week, as well.  
  
How could someone I’d barely known one day become so important the next? It was incredible.  
  
I never noticed any flaws about him, so, me, being the person I was, decided to ask about them. It was only natural that I invited him over my house(with permission from Maman), and he agreed.  
  
\--  
  
Sitting on my bed, we weren’t doing anything much other than playing on our phones and sitting in silence. I’d bring up the topic delicately, very gently. You know...unexpectedly, too.  
  
“Marco, have you actually got any flaws?” I asked. Ah yes. Excellent choice, I’d told myself. The best.  
  
“Besides these?” He looked up and grinned, pointing to the silver braces that were straightening his teeth. I absently-mindedly pressed the tips of my fingers just underneath my lip, reminded of my own braces. “Yeah,” he chuckled softly, and pointed to his right eye. “I can’t see out of this eye.” He admitted.  
  
I blinked slowly, my gaze traveling to his blind-eye before I looked down at my phone again.  
  
“What happened?” I found myself asking, being the sensitive person I was. He fell silent and shrugged quietly, lowering his gaze. It took him a few moments to look back up at me.  
  
“Nothing serious, don’t worry about it. Besides, it happened when I was really young, so..technically, I’ve grown up only being able to see out of one eye. It’s honestly not much of a problem, in my personal opinion.” Marco said.  
  
I shrugged, and that was that. We wouldn’t make a huge fuss out of him only being able to see out of one eye, because, let’s face it, he was perfect despite that. It was a minor thing, and I liked his overall personality, so that was fine. He was nice, so I’d be as nice as I could be to him(as nice as my honest self could be, at least).  
  
We continued on like nothing had happened, and he was fine with that. In fact, I could see him smiling, like he was glad I didn’t really give a shit about that.  
  
At the time, I didn’t understand why he’d be worried about it. Later on, I’d probably learn about why he was so...concerned about it, why he’d seemed a little hesitant.  
  
I was glad that he’d decided to trust me, it was something that meant a lot to me. Marco was the first person to ever genuinely open up to me, and I didn’t care if he’d done it to others - it was refreshing to those who hid everything away.  
  
I found that Marco and I clicked together, like we were meant to be best friends.


End file.
